“It got really uncomfortable, believe it or not, for me,” Neil Lennon said yesterday as he reflected on (Beautiful) Sunday’s skelping by Celtic of the club founded by Charles Green in 2012.
“When the fifth goal went in after 50-odd minutes, I was thinking ‘This just doesn’t look right’.
“It was a total mismatch. I hadn’t seen anything like that before, in this fixture.
“But it’s not the same. It’s certainly not the same. Celtic are a fantastic team but they are beatable. Yet they absolutely wiped the floor with Rangers.
“It was a freak show.
“It’s not for me to say, I’m now on the outside looking it. It is great for Celtic, their players and supporters.
“But the balance is way off kilter from what we’re normally used to.
“The enjoyment went, I thought, after the fifth goal. At 5-0, it just didn’t sit well with me, it didn’t look right. It’s not an *ld F*rm derby at the moment.
“Not what you would really class as a traditional Celtic-Rangers game, because it’s so one-sided.
“I’m not that bothered about it because I’m on the green and white side of it.
“But from a neutral point of view, from a footballing point of view, it doesn’t look right at all.
“It’s down to Brendan Rodgers, because his record in these games is incredible, the way he gets the mindset of the players right absolutely every time.
“But some of those Rangers players out there look well short of it. Well short.”
Lennon also considered the impact that Steven Gerrard – another Celtic supporter managing in Scotland to add to Brendan Rodgers, Stevie Clarke and Lennon himself – could make if given a chance.
Lennon reckons that as Rangers are at rock bottom, the rookie Liverpool Under 18s coach, can only improve things. We’ll see about that.
“I don’t think it will take a lot to turn it around. Because it can’t get any worse. It can’t,” Lennon smiled.
“If the remit there is to finish second next season, with the budget and the support that they’ve had this season, that’s fair.
“They should really have been out of sight in second this season, with the money they have been able to spend in comparison to both ourselves and Aberdeen.
“So I don’t think it’s that insurmountable in that aspect.
“But there is a lot of work to be done. Not just on the football side. In the throes of being a manager, there is a lot of work to be done.
“It’s laced with a lot of risk. All right, Steve’s a very big name — and he may come in and do very, very well.
“He will have to consider what the outcome is for him as well.
“Is it the first step on where he wants to go in his managerial career? I don’t know. But will it be a progressive step?
“I think it’s a good time to go into Rangers.
“Any manager with decent experience could turn it around very, very quickly.
“But it’s fraught with a lot of risks as well, not just in the game but also outside the game too.”
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